Chapter 6: Mortality and Eternality
Marisa was honest-to-hell scared. Reassured as she was by the two magicians' plan, there was an aura of uneasiness that surrounded her, as they did with all life-changing things. She mounted her broom and flew to face Yukari. "Well, you're my last opponent," chuckled Yukari. "Let's make this quick, shall we? After all, you're still mortal. Give me your spirit voluntarily and I won't kill you. I promise you'll recover from the spirit tap." Marisa became infuriated. "Just like you said Reimu would get better? Well, I'm not taking any chances with you." The gap youkai grinned behind her fan. "Then I won't kill you outright. I'll make you watch me kill Reimu. Then, as you see your friend dying, I'll kill you in the most painful way, all while you have to look your dying friend in the eyes." Yukari's sadistic eyes glowed. "Won't that be amazing?"
Marisa took one last look at Reimu before turning back to Yukari. It might change my life forever, but it's the only way. Forgive me, Reimu. I've been a terrible friend. Marisa wiped away some tears. "No, I won't let you ever harm my Reimu!" With that, she charged into battle. In the midst of dodging spells and casting her own, Marisa knew that unless she changed something, she would lose. Her mind was set. She had to become a full-fledged magician. Usually this would require months of preparation to learn the required spells, and with the shrine maiden as her acquaintance, she couldn't even attempt it, lest Reimu have to exterminate her. However, with a new mindset and some tips from the two magicians, there was another way she could accomplish this feat. By intentionally exposing the mortal parts of her spirit to the blasts Yukari fired, she could wipe away her mortality. With every hit taken to her spirit, Marisa felt as if a part of her had died. However, she kept on pushing. Must…keep…going… she thought. For Gensokyo… and Reimu…
After enough hits to her spirit had been taken, Marisa suddenly felt an unearthly flow of power fill her. And with her spirit rejuvenated, she began to push back. The boost in power had just given her enough to start overcoming Yukari. And when the chance arose, Marisa didn't hesitate. "Ultimate Spark!" she shouted. For a few seconds, there was a blinding beam light across the sky of Gensokyo. Marisa flew to the fallen body of Yukari, lying twisted in a giant crater. Marisa walked over to the gap youkai and aimed the mini-hakkero at her chest. "This isn't the end. Get up." The witch kicked the limp youkai onto her feet. "I want you to restore all my friends, now." A rather shocked Yukari quickly obliged. As Marisa wondered what was up with Yukari, she noticed that she was glowing a myriad of colors, which she identified as her spirit. But as she was distracted by her newfound powers she didn't notice that Yukari instead manipulated the boundary between scarcity and plenty to change the measure of Reimu, Patchouli, and Alice's spirits. However, they did revive and Yukari laid herself on the edge of the crater, worn out from the expense of power. Meanwhile, two magicians and a miko woke up to a Marisa with tears of joy in her eyes.
Reimu turned around. "Where are we? And what happened to you?" Marisa turned her head away. "I'll explain later." Meanwhile, Patchouli and Alice shared a hug with Marisa, commenting on her final transformation and congratulating her on unlocking her true potential. Meanwhile, Reimu was getting more and more confused as people started to gather around the crater and Patchouli and Alice talked about transformations and reveals. "What's the meaning of this?" She asked Marisa. "And why are you glowing?"
"Umm…" Marisa took Reimu's hands. "I have to tell you this, and I hope you can forgive me. I'm a full magician now. I had to do it to save Gensokyo… I know you have to exterminate me now, but I just wanted you to know that you've been a great friend." Marisa started to leave, but Reimu held on to her hands. "I know that you did what you had to do. I want to tell you something as well… Marisa." Reimu pulled Marisa in close, tears seeping out of her eyes. "I- I'll miss you." And they lay in that position for a while, with Reimu's head buried in Marisa's shoulder.
Yukari, however, had something to say. "Perhaps I can 'extend' your lifespan, Reimu. There are all sorts of things I can manipulate now, and I owe you one for what I put you through." Reimu hesitated, torn between her responsibilities as a shrine maiden and her love of her friends. She gave in to the latter. "I know I'm contradicting all standards I have set, but my love for my friends is too strong," She confessed. "I accept your offer." Reimu glanced happily at Marisa, now with the prospect of being reunited becoming a new hope for them. "That's completely unexpected, but that's awesome," commented Marisa, moving to embrace her friend. "Now we can be together forever."
As Yukari began the spell, Marisa looked forward to seeing Reimu everyday of her life from now on. The spell was finally finished after several minutes, and left a Reimu that glowed a soft red, the color of her spirit. Marisa rushed to the miko. "Reimu! We can be together forever now!" Reimu smiled. "Yes, we can."
That night, there was a drinking party at the Hakurei shrine to commemorate the day. "Just think about it," Alice said to Patchouli. "In just one day, so much has happened. I guess it is a cause for celebration." Patchouli agreed. "Let's go see what they're up to at the shrine."
At the shrine, there were youkai everywhere as usual, but this time, the atmosphere was particularly lively, spurred by that the fact that two life-changing decisions had been made that day. However, there was a corner of the room where the dull silence cut through the noise. A sobbing Yukari, comforted by Ran, was telling her story to Reimu and Marisa, explaining all her actions and the reasons behind them. Marisa and Reimu were shocked by the perfect reasoning and motivation for her actions. "I guess alcohol does tell all," remarked Marisa after she had heard the story.
Reimu sat next to the gap youkai. "I mean, you did get your power. You still have it, right?" Yukari half-heartedly nodded. "I just wanted to use the spiritual power to enhance Gensokyo. I thought that, if I had enough power, I could expand the borders of Gensokyo." Ran comforted her master. "It'll be fine. You'll find an opportunity where you won't be corrupted by power."
Marisa nodded. "I felt like the Yukari I faced wasn't your personality either." Marisa turned to Reimu. "Why did you accept Yukari's offer so quickly though? I thought you were strongly against villagers turning into youkai. What caused you to accept it? And especially from Yukari, who just drained you of your spirit?" Reimu took a sip of sake before continuing. "Well, when I first became friends with a lot of youkai, I always was jealous of them because of their everlasting lives. I especially envied the magicians because they didn't have to subsist on humans as food. But there was no way for me, a shrine maiden, to achieve this goal. So I established a rule saying that no villagers could become youkai. This was to help me ease my own sorrow. So when I received the opportunity, I put away past wrongs in the hope that I could live forever." Marisa smiled. "Well, now we'll get to be together forever." With the prospect of an enjoyable, eternal life emerging, the two curled up and fell asleep.
And that's the end! I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I had fun writing it. I'll be posting another story linked to the events that happen afterwards and the aftermath. This will be a separate story though, so keep your eyes peeled. Thanks so much for reading!